Walls of vibrant stickers and cereal boxes, people in eye-catching costumes and rooms that make you feel like you stepped into a new world; if you ever wonder what a colour-fuelled, Asian-inspired fever dream of hypnotising shapes and sounds is like, look no further than Dubai Mall's House of Hype.
The space inside the mall's Chinatown is difficult to define. The aptly named hype house is filled with more than 100 immersive experiences, spanning games, performances and dining. Dubbed a "social media-ready destination", it is both a child's daydream and a hub for content creation.
"The entire park fits the digital to physical theme, bringing the habits, interests, imagery and iconography of the digital existence, most notably gaming, content creation and internet culture, into the physical space, with a layer of immersive theatre," Alexander Heller, chief executive of entertainment company HyperSpace, tells The National.
According to the creators, House of Hype contains 18 immersive worlds, 50 gaming experiences, 55 content creator stages, various performances, 14 exclusive shopping destinations and six dining venues for visitors to explore. The concept was developed over three years, with construction taking more than 18 months.
The immersive theme park plays like a physical video game, Heller says. It is built on a system that encourages customers to embark on missions through the park to win HyperCoin, an in-world token that can be exchanged to win park prizes, including food and beverages.
"Our aim is to engage guests in so many wants and through so many senses, transporting our customers to an experiential world never seen before," he says.
Upon entering the space, the extravagant, over-the-top costumes that represent the different rooms and sections at House of Hype are the first things to catch the eye.
In front of a wall, built with cartoon-like boxes of cereal, stands a tall man in a rainbow jumpsuit, pretending to summon something out of thin air with his hands. Outside a pretend tattoo shop is someone wearing a costume made purely out of metallic silver pompoms. As he dances, so do the pompoms.
A woman in a silver dress and a headpiece emulating a chandelier stands by a set of mysterious curtains, once she leads you inside, the only thing visible is a giant chandelier in the middle of the room surrounded by glistening mirrors.
At the bazaar, two women dressed in childlike, candy-inspired costumes and jewellery dance next to shelves of supermarket products, including cans of Rainbow evaporated milk, cartons of Laban Up, Nesquik cocoa powder and other seemingly random items.
There is also a prevalent theme of Asian culture and dining throughout the park. "Hype culture and style are very much born in the East and transported to the West," says Heller. "The team took various trips to Japan and South Korea during the creative development of the park and there is certainly inspiration from these cultures in the park."
While the costumes are entertaining enough to witness, there are also plenty of arcade games and immersive experiences. One example is the age-defying ball pit. Unlike soft play, this isn't just for young children and after climbing a small set of stairs, visitors can jump (and sink) into a sea of coloured plastic balls.
The venue has been created for content creators, a place for them to find inspiration and film social media content in the various rooms and spaces.
One of the most unexpected rooms is a laundromat, where, after pulling one of the washing machine handles, you access a secret entrance to a disco hallway. Another is an echo room that magnifies anything you say, and a green room with cartoons on a screen that mirrors your every move.
"I hope that our customers can visit House of Hype to escape from the world and journey to our wondrous and wild universe," says Heller. He adds that he wants visitors to "feel like they are getting on an aeroplane to a world that brings their imagination, creativity, and joy to life by just stepping through our front door".
House of Hype opens on Friday in Chinatown, Dubai Mall. General admission tickets are priced at Dh149
